1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die - #92. Frank Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim - Frank Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim (1967)

Frank Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim - Frank Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim (1967)

Label – Reprise
Producer – Sonny Burke
Art Direction – Ed Thrasher
Nationality – USA
Running Time – 28:34

Track Listing (standout tracks listed in bold)

1. Girl From Ipanema
2. Dindi
3. Change Partners
4. Quiet Nights Of Quiet Stars
5. Meditations
6. If You Never Come To Me
7. How Insensitive
8. Concentrate On You
9. Baubles Bangles And Beads
10. Once I Loved

I’m not a big Frank Sinatra fan. I’m not a big bossa nova fan. So I really had no idea what to expect from a Frank Sinatra bossa nova record. I’ve reviewed a few and it’s just not my kind of music. I’m sure I am much more tolerant now than I would have been even 5 short years ago and totally dismissed all of them without giving them a chance.
I try to think about the artists and the recordings in the context of the times they were recorded and released. So it’s 1967, and bossa nova had become quite popular in the US with jazz and pop audiences, so it’s no wonder Frank Sinatra decided to team up with the leading bossa nova composer Antonio Carlos Jobim. He brought in arranger Claus Ogerman and went to work. The trio concentrated mainly on Jobim original titles, but did add a few ‘American’ classics as well (most notably -- "Baubles, Bangles and Beads") and re-arranged them to suit the bossa nova theme of the record.
The record is actually a low key affair, and not as ‘bouncy’ as I was thinking it might be for bossa nova Latin music. Sinatra is – well Sinatra. Relaxed and forceful for sure – but I have never considered him a great singer, but he’s not terrible either. Brass, percussion, soft strings, and a sweet sounding guitar makes the music ‘pleasant’ to listen to, but there us no fire or excitement to the tracks whatsoever.
Perhaps that ‘pleasantness’ would be expanded on with time and repeated listenings that one doesn’t get with just one listen, but it really became only background music for me, and my mind would often wonder to other thoughts while playing – so obviously didn’t keep my attention.
At the Grammy Awards of 1968 Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim was nominated for the Grammy Award for Album of the Year, and while not especially bad – I would not recommend it.

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You can purchase the CD here.